Biel-Benken (
Swiss German
Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...
: ''Biel-Bängge'') is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the district of
Arlesheim
Arlesheim is a town and a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. Its cathedral chapter seat, bishop's residence and cathedral (1681 / 1761) are listed as a heritage site of national significance ...
in the
canton of
Basel-Country
Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...
in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.
History
Benken is first mentioned in 1259 as ''Beinkon''. It was also known as ''Benken maior'' to distinguish it from Biel which was known as ''Benken minor'', ''Buelbenken'' or ''Benken inferior''.
[
]
Geography
Biel-Benken has an area, , of . Of this area, or 53.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 19.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 25.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.2% is unproductive land.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 17.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.4%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.9%. Out of the forested land, 18.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 40.0% is used for growing crops and 6.1% is pastures, while 7.8% is used for orchards or vine crops.[
The municipality is located in the Arlesheim district, in the Leimen valley. It consists of the two villages of Biel and Benken, which are separated by the ]Birsig
The Birsig is a rather small river in eastern France and northern Switzerland. Its source is in the village Biederthal, in the French Haut-Rhin department, near the Swiss border. The Birsig is about long, and its drainage basin, watershed area is ...
river. The two villages merged in 1972.[Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 18 February 2011
Coat of arms
The blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...
of the municipal coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
is ''Gules, a bend lozengy Argent''
Demographics
Biel-Benken has a population () of . , 11.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008]
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 25.5%.
accessed 24-February-2011German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
(2,485 or 92.8%), with French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
being second most common (55 or 2.1%) and English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
being third (35 or 1.3%). There are 2 people who speak Romansh.[
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The population was made up of 2,746 Swiss citizens (87.9% of the population), and 377 non-Swiss residents (12.1%)][ Of the population in the municipality 492 or about 18.4% were born in Biel-Benken and lived there in 2000. There were 561 or 20.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,178 or 44.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 364 or 13.6% were born outside of Switzerland.][
In there were 22 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 17 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 5 while the foreign population increased by 1. There were 3 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 12 non-Swiss men and 17 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 10 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 26 people. This represents a ]population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...
of 0.5%.[
The age distribution, , in Biel-Benken is; 230 children or 7.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 463 teenagers or 14.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 270 people or 8.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 301 people or 9.6% are between 30 and 39, 573 people or 18.3% are between 40 and 49, and 706 people or 22.6% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 467 people or 15.0% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 113 people or 3.6% who are over 80.][Canton of Basel-Land Statistics]
''Wohnbevölkerung nach Nationalität und Konfession per 30. September 2010'' accessed 16 February 2011
, there were 1,027 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,437 married individuals, 101 widows or widowers and 114 individuals who are divorced.[STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 1,054 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household.[ There were 221 households that consist of only one person and 68 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,079 households that answered this question, 20.5% were households made up of just one person and 5 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 386 married couples without children, 368 married couples with children There were 58 single parents with a child or children. There were 16 households that were made up unrelated people and 25 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.][
there were 674 single family homes (or 80.1% of the total) out of a total of 841 inhabited buildings. There were 77 multi-family buildings (9.2%), along with 71 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.4%) and 19 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.3%). Of the single family homes 22 were built before 1919, while 124 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (202) were built between 1971 and 1980.][Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011
there were 1,082 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 335. There were 15 single room apartments and 582 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,018 apartments (94.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 48 apartments (4.4%) were seasonally occupied and 16 apartments (1.5%) were empty.[ , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.2 new units per 1000 residents.][ the average price to rent a two-room apartment was about 1089.00 CHF (US$870, £490, €700), a three-room apartment was about 1428.00 CHF (US$1140, £640, €910) and a four-room apartment cost an average of 1685.00 CHF (US$1350, £760, €1080).][Canton of Basel-Land Statistics]
, ''Mieter- und Genossenschafterwohnungen1 nach Zimmerzahl und Mietpreis 2000'' accessed 20 February 2011 The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.32%.[
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Politics
In the 2007 federal election
This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...
the most popular party was the SVP which received 25.53% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (21.06%), the SP (20.98%) and the CVP (17.17%). In the federal election, a total of 1,203 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
was 54.8%.
Economy
, Biel-Benken had an unemployment rate of 1.37%. , there were 110 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 21 businesses involved in this sector. 343 people were employed in the secondary sector
In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. ...
and there were 36 businesses in this sector. 425 people were employed in the tertiary sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...
, with 95 businesses in this sector.[ There were 1,381 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.2% of the workforce.
the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 773. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 69, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 345, of which 167 or (48.4%) were in manufacturing and 178 (51.6%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 359. In the tertiary sector; 132 or 36.8% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 15 or 4.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 39 or 10.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 9 or 2.5% were in the information industry, 4 or 1.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 58 or 16.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 12 or 3.3% were in education and 22 or 6.1% were in health care.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3]
accessed 28 January 2011
, there were 670 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,078 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 23.4% of the workforce coming into Biel-Benken are coming from outside Switzerland.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 19.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 53% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 656 or 24.5% were Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, while 1,371 or 51.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 6 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.22% of the population), there were 7 individuals (or about 0.26% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 56 individuals (or about 2.09% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 individuals (or about 0.26% of the population) who were Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, and 24 (or about 0.90% of the population) who were Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic. There were 4 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, 10 individuals who were Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 458 (or about 17.10% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
or atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 75 individuals (or about 2.80% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Biel-Benken about 1,135 or (42.4%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 596 or (22.2%) have completed additional higher education (either university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
or a ''Fachhochschule
A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...
''). Of the 596 who completed tertiary schooling, 60.6% were Swiss men, 28.2% were Swiss women, 6.4% were non-Swiss men and 4.9% were non-Swiss women.[ , there were 3 students in Biel-Benken who came from another municipality, while 300 residents attended schools outside the municipality.][
]
Notable residents
* Alex Frei, a famous Swiss soccer player, was born and grew up in Biel-Benken.
References
External links
Official website
*
Successful soccer team of Biel-Benken
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Basel-Landschaft